Of course a horse isn't going to be "happy" when it has to work. Who would be? They are happy when they are doing nothing but sleeping and eating.On the contrary. A horse who is NOT in pain. Who is being asked CORRECTLY. With a handler/rider who knows when the question asked has been answered correctly not "EXACTLY" is a happy horse.
My 24 year old Quarter Horse mare & I jumping over a low pile of sticks bareback and bridelelss. This is a lot of work, A. She cannot jump for beans she's a barrel horse and B. This involves a lot of thinking, I am loose on a trail bareback with nothing on this mare asking her to canter over sticks. Its work. She is thinking in the photo but not un-happy. I could post many photos of the horses here working and no one looks un-happy :) So I disagree, a horse shouldn't be un-happy with the right form of work.

To clarify, I did not mean you in particular in my comment but stating more lounging isn't going to make the mare better - this was to the OP.

To the OP. FIRST I would have the horse checked out for pain. Your saying she is not in pain does not mean she is not in pain.
Looking back at all of your threads there is a thread with 11 photos of this mare jumping and in every single one she's pissed. INCLUDING the photo with a rider on her back.
Having that said, the video was enough to annoy the pants off from me and I am not your horse. You sent her over the jump countless times, she's got it, she did it, yaaaaay good girl, give her something else to do. The jump changed once, it was a bit lower, right at the end of the movie and she had the thinking look on her face. "27" times over the same jump, ears pinned. The last jump was different, she was considerably happier. In addition, you asked for advice yourself on her pinning her ears while you ride and now you say she does not? Also sometimes while I am riding her she pins her ears back.

Then I eventually cantered and she took off into a full blown gallop! She then nearly ran me into a wall and the gate. I could not stop her at all!

From another thread you've posted. Horses do not have to ride with ears pinned to hurt, they can also buck, bolt, rear etc.. Blind galloping around an arena risks her tripping so I am sure she was saying something. Whether its pain, confusion, annoyance or otherwise. You also stated she is fighting the bit. Figure out if its YOU doing something wrong, asking wrong, sitting wrong or just not recognizing a good answer from your horse when you get one so she has become obstinate. OR if your horse is confused or in pain.

I will guarantee you that it is not this mare coming up with "what can I do to be bad today" on her own. Horses -all horses- WANT to be good.

From the sounds of your threads regarding this mare she is a very smart horse. Congrats! If handled correctly you can do a lot with her. I would also say that you have the typical problem of not listening to your horse and not rewarding her for a good answer when she gives one. Putting her into the "tacking up stall" is another example of not listening to your horse (OR the people here giving advice saying you couldn't back them into one either) Several of your threads start with things like "Today Lola was being worse than usual...." So this is NOT a "she pins her ears while lounging" topic at all. This is everything. Either this mare is in pain or its you. Spend less time trying to figure out whats wrong with her. Spend more time figuring out whats wrong with "you" (This is not meant to sound mean)

Horses read body language more than you'll ever understand. When you arrive at the boarding stable and walk towards Lola she has already summed up your mood and decided on hers. So perhaps it was not just "Today Lola was being worse than usual...."

I agree with NI Really have your horse checked out for pain it sounds like if there is pain it could be her teeth or back but have her checked by a vet to truly rule it out. Horses won't usually act up without a reason.

If it is not pain the next thing on the list to check is you. Seeing as we are the intruder in the horses life we have to be absolutely sure we as riders and handlers are not the problem.

Usually inspecting these two things first will solve the problem if not then we look at training.

Simple - I can tell that horse ain't happy. If you don't need to lunge, don't - but if she's afraid of the whip, desensitize her to it by rubbing all over her a a standstill and work up to someone leading her at a walk (and eventually the trot) while you flick the whip all over her until she relaxes and tolerates the touch of the whip. If she is reacting out of fear, then do more groundwork - move her feet until she respects you. In the pasture, if another horse wants her out of their space, they will move her feet until she gives the other horse the desired response.

That said, it looks to me like she's disrespectful of the whip. She needs to learn to respect it.

She has had her teeth done and her back checked. Nothing is wrong there. I figured she is not pinning her ears while ridden she is just pointing them backwards listening.

If she was in pain she would bolt, buck rear etc every time she is ridden. She does NOT do that. I rode her today and yesterday and she was perfect. I have seen her trotting and cantering in the field and she does not pin her ears. If she was in pain she would be constantly in a bad mood. She ONLY pins her ears while lunging. If she was in pain she would be way worse under saddle but she is not.

With the jumping pictures...I changed the height every time to get her listening. She would not even canter to the jumps. Even the last one she cantered about 5 strides then trotted.

I jumped her today too and she loved it! With me on her. Her ears were forward. So she is not in pain.

I am working on getting her desensitized to the whip. She stands still when I spin in around etc. It is just when I am behind her she does not like it.

My horse, Sam, was TERRIFIED of whips - and to show his fear, he would get grumpy/aggressive about it - fear turns into aggression with most horses. Now, though, he lets me smack the ground with the string on my "handy stick" really close to his back legs, and his lungeing is getting better - in fact, he used to pin his ears when lunged, too, but he's gotten much better about lungeing as a whole (racehorses don't lunge alot, ya know, lol)...

It sounds like you're just a normal horse and normal rider, with occasional bad days just like the rest of us!

Of course a horse isn't going to be "happy" when it has to work. Who would be? They are happy when they are doing nothing but sleeping and eating.
On the contrary. A horse who is NOT in pain. Who is being asked CORRECTLY. With a handler/rider who knows when the question asked has been answered correctly not "EXACTLY" is a happy horse...

I was being sarcastic about them being happy. So your horse doesn't look un-happy when working. Does that mean she's happy? No, she is being respectful and willing to do what you ask. Horses don't feel happy like we do. Your horse detests to lunge. Your horse is very well trained. Your horse respects you. So no you wouldn't need to lunge her. Your horse understands that you are her leader and that's why she is respectful and willing.

I may be mistaken, butI thought the OP's horse is fairly new to her. The horse does not feel that she is the leader of their herd of 2(horse and OP). Getting the horse to move and change directions will get the horses respect.

I do agree that if she is asking for the same thing over and over, the horse will show dislike by pinning the ears. Without being there and watching how she is working her horse, we can't tell if she is asking wrong, not rewarding a correct answer, nagging the horse and so on. These would cause the horse to pin the ears also. All we can do is give advice and she will do what she wants with it.

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